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Managing High Cholesterol

How One 83-Year-Old Fights Cholesterol With Exercise

Joseph Martosella's heart attack spurred him to adopt a more heart healthy lifestyle. Now at 83, he controls his cholesterol with diet, exercise, and medication.

By Valentine’s Day 2014, Joseph Martosella had completed more than 730 weeks of an exercise routine that started as a 10-week program. He began the program years ago to conquer high cholesterol and, in turn, save his life. Now the 83-year-old vice president of Buckley & Co. in Philadelphia, he has no intention of slowing down.

Martosella says he is thankful every day for the heart attack in 1998. Why? It forced him to maintain normal cholesterol levels. “If I didn’t have a heart attack when I did, I may have had a fatal one later on,” he says.

The Heart Attack That Changed His Life

Martosella acknowledges that his doctor had told him many years before his heart attack that his cholesterol levels were too high and he needed to change his diet and exercise habits. But until he actually had the heart attack, making those changes just never stuck.

In August 1998, shortly before his heart attack, his total cholesterol measured 259, with his HDL (or “good” cholesterol) at 49, and his LDL (or "bad" cholesterol) at 189. He weighed 190 pounds. Now, after 15 years of comprehensive cholesterol management, including lifestyle changes, his current total cholesterol is 130. His HDL is 62, his LDL is 61, and his weight is 172.

The change did not come easily or quickly.

After his heart attack, he found the Healthy Change of Heart Program run by a cardiology team at Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia. The 10-week program teaches participants about diet, exercise, stress management, and cholesterol medication. Today, the octogenarian says that not only does he stick to a healthier diet and a four-day-a-week exercise routine, but his four adult children have also made the decision to be very physically active and committed to heart health.

Martosella says he avoids high cholesterol foods by eating fish and poultry and very little red meat. He also avoids saturated fat, drinks alcohol in moderation, and quit smoking the cigars he once enjoyed three or four times a day. “I still work 45 to 50 hours a week, and as of today, I have no intention of retiring,” he says. Through the Healthy Change of Heart Program, he also learned how to reduce his stress — which he acknowledges might have contributed to his heart attack — so that he could continue his role as general counsel to a construction firm.

How to Control Your Cholesterol

Martosella isn’t alone in his experience. Though he started getting on track with a 10-week program, most people should plan to spend at least a year integrating their new heart health habits into their life, says cardiologist David Becker, MD, on staff at Chestnut Hill Hospital and developer of the Healthy Change of Heart Program. “You can see a huge difference in 10 weeks, but you have to make the lifestyle change for life.”

Dr. Becker emphasizes that the most recent guidelines for cholesterol management underscore the importance of making lifestyle changes like regular exercise, a heart-healthy diet, and quitting tobacco a part of your treatment plan, although taking cholesterol medication also continues to play a leading role in the national guidelines.

For people like Martosella who have already had a heart attack, taking medication is almost always necessary, Becker says. If you want to prevent a heart attack, quitting tobacco, following a low-fat Mediterranean diet, and exercising at least 30 minutes a day, four days a week can go a long way in maintaining normal cholesterol levels. Even people who are on cholesterol medications should be making these lifestyle changes, Becker says.

According to research published in April 2013 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adopting healthier habits may help reduce total cholesterol in as little as six months. Researchers followed 133 adults who participated in a worksite healthy lifestyle program, showing that weight management over that period of time improved cholesterol.

And if your exercise routine involves getting up and working out at 5:45 every Tuesday and Thursday mornings, you can find inspiration in knowing that you and Martosella have that in common. If you cut the fat out of your diet, eat more fiber, and skip the sweets like him too, you’ll be well on your way to a healthier cholesterol level.

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